DC-Cannon House Bldg on lockdown-MSNBC [Update: gun was plastic]

MSNBC | 10/30/03 | MSNBC

[Diddle E. Squat]

Searching for a lone gunman

[per loin]

So the girl just walked through security, and only after she had gone did they notice that her bag had contained what appeared to be a gun. Idiots! And now Gainer is on, telling how well his staff performed.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

See #374.

I guess we'll believe anything.

[prairiebreeze]

What damfool brings even a toy gun through a scanner these days?

Prairie

[mewzilla]

Why isn't the military guarding the Capitol instead of the fuzz?

[Aaron0617]

IT WAS A TOY GUN A GUY WITH A HALLOWEEN COSTUME!!!!
Then why did they run??

This spokesman said they were returning from lunch with cokes in their hands. Maybe they were in a hurry to get back to work.

[camle]

well best I could do is actually two. close enough!

[Rutles4Ever]

What damn fool bring a toy gun to a gov't building, period??

[Mo1]

2 staff members?! If true, whose??

Good question

[SerpentDove]

[michigander]

Search For Gunman In Capitol Over

Police: Staffer Carried Toy Gun As Part Of Costume

WASHINGTON -- Police are reopening the Cannon Office Building after putting it on lockdown for 90 minutes as they searched for a gunman.

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer says the gun spotted by security screeners was a toy gun, part of a Halloween costume.

The building was put on lockdown after a security guard saw a gun in a backpack as it passed through metal detectors. Before the guard could get to the backpack, someone picked it up and entered the U.S. Capitol.

After reviewing video tape from that security station, police started looking for a woman along with the man believed to have picked up the backpack. They say she entered the building at about the same time. That woman came forward, and told police the gun was hers and was part of a Halloween costume.

Before the woman came forwrad, police conducted a systematic search of the Cannon Office Building, floor by floor. Capitol staffers were told to lock their offices, and the entire building was under a lockdown. People were allowed to leave the building, but they were searched as they left. No one was allowed to enter the building.

The Cannon Office Building is linked to two other office buildings through underground tunnels. Those tunnels were sealed and security was increased at the other buildings as well.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Whoever is willing to take the fall. Staff from New Jersey, perhaps.

It would be interesting to see if these two get a promotion in the near future.

[aristeides]

Isn't Gainer D.C. Metropolitan Police? Aren't the Capitol Police a totally different outfit?

[mhking]

Just damn.

[I_love_weather]

Heh they never even ran...

Figures it was someone that works in the building...

The guy at the x-ray machine took awhile to figure it out...then it was too late - they were already on their way.

The guy at the x-ray machine prob should be relocated :)

[76834]

Betcha there are a whole lot of people asking questions similiar to yours.

[Mo1]

I saw .. we can't bring toe nail clippers on a plane

And yet these idiots bring a toy gun to work??

[Howlin]

Is that the guy who couldn't find Chandra?

[Mo1]

I saw .. we can't bring toe nail clippers on a plane

And yet these idiots bring a toy gun to work??

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Then why did they run??

Maybe their Halloween costume was T.J. Hooker? (visualizing those cheesy opening scenes of that 80's TV show where Shatner runs bearing his weapon).

[mewzilla]

One of 'em. Really gives you confidence, don't it?